Narrative Voice, Memory, and Postcolonial Identity Formation: A Comparative Analytical Study of Lyrical Storytelling in the Select Novels of Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The rise of the postcolonial narratives has predicted the intricacies of fractured identities informed by the past, displacement and cultural ambivalence.Nevertheless, the significance of lyrical narrative voice as a memory creating and mediating mechanism is under-researched.This paper examines the interplay of narrative voice and memory to construct postcolonial identity in these two novels that were chosen Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai.Through the application of qualitative comparative textual analysis based on the postcolonial and memory theory, the paper examines how the two authors employ lyrical narratives told through non-linear storytelling, remembrance imagery and rhythmic language in re-creating personal and community experiences.It is argued in the analysis that the role of the lyrical narrative voice is a compelling discursive tool wherein fragmented identities are researched, which enables characters to power brokering trauma, belonging, and cultural dislocation.Although the narrative style of Roy is more intimate and localized in terms of memory and emotional richness, the one of Desai is indicative of the general diasporic conflicts and national identity construction.This study can help to better explain how modern Indian English fiction can be articulated by focusing on the issues of memory, voice, and postcolonial subjectivity.
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7223183747